First up, XCOM: Enemy Unknown will not be a remake, more of a "re-imagining". As GameInformer reports, "Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown doesn't directly copy the underlying game systems – for instance, soldiers have different stats than they did in the 1994 original – but the concepts are still here. Players still have to manage multiple resources and threats on a global scale in a seemingly hopeless war against extraterrestrial forces with far better technology and capabilities."

So it looks like the whole shebang, no FPS prequel stuff here, just a full-blown invasion of the Earth. The action will apparently revolve primarily around turn-based strategy. There is a real-time element, but it's confined to a global view, "where the player keeps track of known UFOs and abductions going on around the world. Managing research and development at the XCOM organization's secret base can be done at the player's leisure, and all combat is completely turn-based."

Expect research, diplomacy, resource management, recruitment, aerial UFO interception and a whole lot more besides. Firaxis are "streamlining" certain aspects of the game and attempting to remove a fair proportion of micromanagement, but according to GI's Adam Biessener, "what I've seen I wouldn't call it "dumbing down" the game so much as getting rid of tedium and uninteresting mechanics. Soldiers still die permanently, fog of war and line of sight are hugely important in combat, and you absolutely can lose the game if you screw up too badly."